Our face-off pits two movies against each other, both of which have distinguished themselves as vehicles where men are desperate to lose their viriginity - The 40-Year-Old Virgin finds Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) being encouraged by his work buddies to get with the program. American Pie finds four high school seniors making a pact to get laid by the end of the school year, notably focusing on Jim (Jason Biggs) and his practice relationship with an apple pie.
"Uh, guys... tell me again why sex is worth this?"
Let's just start with a simple fact. Both films are very funny but, despite their common goals, for different reasons. The 40-Year-Old Virgin is the funniest of the two. I think it's because we are actually care more for Steve Carell's Andy than Jason Biggs' Jim. One guy is, well, 40, and the other guy is 18. It's the difference between time running out and all the possibilities of life still being ahead of you.
People were screaming with laughter in the theater where I saw The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Honestly, I haven't experienced this kind of mass hysteria in a theater since seeing Meet the Parents which had people laughing so hard they were drowning out some of the jokes. Virgin is still a pretty crude sex comedy — it yields no ground to Pie on that score — but it is also surprisingly insightful with a good heart and a lead character I really liked. Many of the laughs in Pie come from simply being shocked that somebody could be that gross or that overtly sexual in a film comedy about high school kids.
I'm not a prude. I mean, I went to both these films and laughed my ass off. But Virgin is about a guy with a real problem that is holding him back from a complete life. Pie is about casual sex for teenagers. I have real teenagers. Sex is not a casual topic for them or for me.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
I've not yet seen Virgin (though I very much want to) but I might just add that the viewer's perspective may have a big influence on which film is funnier. In other words, a younger viewer is more apt to relate to Pie while a middle-aged audience is more likely to howl at Virgin.
I think that American Pie is one of the most effective slapstick films about high school of the last 20 or so years.
Looking forward to Virgin so I can more accurately compare the two.
2 - Bryce
Oh, I definitely think that your age would determine which film you like more. (Although my teenager thought 40 was about the funniest thing he'd seen.) I just think that 40 is not burdened by playing up teenage sex to a broad audience -- it's a more comfortable laugher to more people. Mostly, though, with this theater/dvd review format, somebody's got to win!